Abstract
Towards the end of 2020, multiple variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) have arisen from the original SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan-Hu-1 strain. Mutations in the Spike protein are highly scrutinized for their impact on transmissibility, pathogenesis and vaccine efficacy. Here, we contribute to the growing body of literature on emerging variants by evaluating the impact of single mutations on the overall antigenicity of selected variants and their binding to the ACE2 receptor. We observe a differential contribution of single mutants to the global variants phenotype related to ACE2 interaction and antigenicity. Using biolayer interferometry, we observe that enhanced ACE2 interaction is mostly modulated by a decrease in off-rate. Finally, we made the interesting observation that the Spikes from tested emerging variants bind better to ACE2 at 37°C compared to the D614G variant. Whether improved ACE2 binding at higher temperature facilitates emerging variants transmission remain to be demonstrated.
Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; Coronavirus; RBD; SARS-CoV-2; Spike glycoproteins; Temperature; Vaccines; Variants of concern.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, ACE2, coronavirus, Vaccines, RBD, spike glycoproteins, temperature, variants of concern., 【초록키워드】 Efficacy, Vaccine, Pathogenesis, spike, variant, vaccine efficacy, variants of concern, ACE2 receptor, Transmission, variants, Spike protein, Protein, Transmissibility, D614G variant, spike glycoproteins, VOCs, phenotype, variants of interest, temperature, antigenicity, VOIs, binding, Interaction, ACE2 binding, observation, Off-rate, spikes, single mutation, single mutations, Wuhan-Hu-1, decrease, observé, selected, tested, facilitate, contribute, demonstrated, the Spike, modulated, single mutant, 【제목키워드】 variant, single mutation, selected,